Privacy Policy
Last updated: February 8, 2026
At Debt Payoff Spreadsheet ("we," "us," or "our"), we take your privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information when you use our website and debt payoff calculator.
For non-essential cookies and similar technologies, we rely on your choices in our Google Privacy & Messaging consent flow (Google CMP), where required by law. Using our website means you acknowledge this Privacy Policy, but it does not replace consent where consent is legally required.
1. Your Financial Data is Private
We do not collect, store, or transmit the financial data you enter in the debt payoff calculator. Our debt payoff calculator is a client-side tool that runs entirely in your web browser. All calculations are performed locally on your device, and any debt information you enter is saved only to your browser's localStorage on your own device.
Your debt balances, interest rates, payment amounts, and other financial information never leave your device and are never sent to our servers or any third party. You can clear this data at any time by clearing your browser's local storage or using your browser's privacy settings.
If you choose to include financial details in a contact form message or in other direct communications, that information is processed as part of your submission.
Important Disclaimer: The information and tools provided on this website are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. You should consult with qualified professionals before making any financial decisions.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Automatically Collected Information
When you visit our website, we automatically collect certain information through cookies and similar technologies for analytics and advertising purposes:
- Browser type and version
- Operating system
- Pages visited and time spent on pages
- Referring website and search terms
- IP address and network data processed by our providers for analytics, security, fraud prevention, and geolocation at an approximate level
- General location (country/region level only)
- Device information (screen size, device type)
- Interaction with advertisements
2.2 Information You Provide
We only collect personal information that you voluntarily provide:
- Contact Form: Name, email address, subject, and message content when you contact us (processed via StaticForms.dev and protected by Google reCAPTCHA). Our form providers may also process technical metadata such as IP address, browser details, referrer, and timestamps for security and anti-spam purposes.
- Newsletter: Email address if you subscribe to our newsletter (managed via Kit.com)
3. Consent Management and Google CMP
We use Google Consent Management Platform (CMP) to manage your privacy preferences and cookie consent in compliance with GDPR, ePrivacy Directive, and US state privacy laws. The Google CMP loads before any other tracking scripts to ensure your privacy choices are respected.
Depending on your region, you will see different consent options:
- EU/EEA/UK Users: You must actively consent (opt-in) before non-essential cookies and tracking are activated. This complies with GDPR requirements.
- US and Other Regions: Google consent defaults may allow certain non-essential processing unless and until you opt out (where applicable). For users in covered US states, Google Privacy & Messaging can show state-specific opt-out flows (such as "Do Not Sell or Share") based on your location and Google's configuration.
You can change your consent preferences at any time through the Google CMP consent flow, by clicking the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer of our website (which reopens a Google privacy message when available), through Google Ads Settings, or by clearing your browser cookies.
4. How We Use Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve your experience, analyze site usage, and display relevant advertisements. Your consent preferences are managed through Google CMP as described above.
4.1 Essential Cookies (Always Active)
Required for the website to function properly. These cannot be disabled:
- Cookie consent preferences (Google CMP)
- Session management and security
- Local storage for calculator state (stored locally only)
4.2 Analytics Cookies
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site and improve our content and user experience:
- Pages visited and user navigation flow
- Time spent on site and bounce rates
- Device and browser information
- General demographics (age range, interests) when available
- Traffic sources and referral data
We do not intentionally send personally identifying information to Google Analytics. In Google Analytics 4, Google states that individual IP addresses are not logged or stored. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy and Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on .
4.3 Advertising Cookies
We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our website. This helps us keep our tools and content free for all users. Google AdSense may use cookies and similar technologies to:
- Serve relevant ads based on your browsing history and interests
- Measure ad performance and effectiveness
- Prevent fraudulent activity
- Limit the number of times you see the same ad
Your Advertising Choices:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this and other websites.
- Google's use of advertising cookies enables Google and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to this site and/or other sites on the internet.
- If third-party ad serving is enabled, other third-party vendors or ad networks may also use cookies to serve ads on this site.
- Opt out of personalized advertising at Google Ads Settings
- Learn more about how Google uses data in Google's Advertising Policy
- Visit Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) or Your Online Choices (EU) to opt out of interest-based advertising from participating companies
- Learn how Google uses information from partner sites: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services
Please note that opting out of personalized ads does not mean you will see fewer ads; it means the ads you see will be less relevant to your interests.
5. Third-Party Services
We use the following third-party services, each with their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review their policies to understand how they handle your data:
- Google Analytics: Website analytics and performance tracking. Privacy Policy
- Google AdSense: Advertising platform. Privacy Policy
- Google CMP: Consent management platform. Privacy Policy
- Google reCAPTCHA: Spam and bot protection for our contact form. Privacy Policy
- StaticForms.dev: Contact form processing and submission handling. Privacy Policy
- Kit.com: Email newsletter management and delivery. Privacy Policy
- Cloudflare Pages: Website hosting, CDN, and security services. Privacy Policy
6. Affiliate Links and Advertising Disclosure
This website may contain affiliate links to third-party products and services. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase or sign up for a service, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. These commissions help us maintain and improve our free tools and content.
We only recommend products and services that we believe may be helpful to our users. However, we are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of service of any third-party websites or services. Our affiliate relationships do not influence our editorial content or recommendations.
7. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on your location, you may have certain rights regarding your personal data under applicable privacy laws:
7.1 European Union (GDPR)
If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
- Right of Access: Request a copy of your personal data
- Right to Rectification: Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data
- Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your personal data
- Right to Restriction of Processing: Limit how we use your data
- Right to Data Portability: Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format
- Right to Object: Object to processing of your personal data for direct marketing or other purposes
- Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent at any time (without affecting prior processing)
- Right to Lodge a Complaint: File a complaint with your local data protection authority
Our legal basis for processing your personal data includes: (1) your consent (for non-essential cookies and personalized advertising where required), (2) legitimate interests (for site security, fraud prevention, and service operations), and (3) legal obligations.
7.2 United States Privacy Rights
Depending on your state of residence, you may have additional privacy rights:
California (CCPA/CPRA):
- Know what personal information we collect and how it is used
- Know whether we sell or share personal information (we do not sell personal information for money, but limited data sharing for advertising may be treated as "sharing" under some state laws)
- Access your personal information
- Request deletion of your personal information
- Opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information
- Correct inaccurate personal information
- Limit the use of sensitive personal information
- Non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights
Other US States: If you reside in Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), or other states with comprehensive privacy laws, you may have similar rights to access, delete, correct, and opt-out of certain data processing.
7.3 Exercising Your Rights
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us through our contact page. We will respond to your request within 30 days (or as required by applicable law). We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
You can also manage your cookie and tracking preferences at any time through Google Privacy & Messaging/CMP controls, the "Cookie Settings" link, Google Ads Settings, or by clearing your browser cookies.
8. Data Retention
We retain your personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:
- Contact Form Submissions: Retained only as long as needed to respond, provide support, and maintain reasonable business records, then deleted.
- Newsletter Subscriptions: Retained by us and Kit.com until you unsubscribe or request deletion, subject to legal requirements.
- Analytics Data: Retained in Google Analytics according to our GA4 property settings (standard GA4 event-level retention is typically 2 or 14 months). Some aggregated reporting data may be retained longer by Google.
- Advertising Data: Managed by Google AdSense and applicable ad vendors according to their own retention policies and legal obligations.
- Financial Calculator Data: Stored only on your device in local storage, never on our servers. You can delete this at any time through your browser settings.
- Cookie and Privacy Choice Records: Managed by Google Privacy & Messaging/CMP and retained as required for compliance.
9. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction:
- HTTPS/TLS encryption for all data transmission
- Secure hosting with Cloudflare Pages with DDoS protection
- Regular security updates and monitoring
- Limited access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
- Use of reputable third-party service providers with strong security practices
However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee absolute security. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any passwords or account credentials.
10. Children's Privacy
Our website is not intended for children under 13 years of age (or 16 in the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under these ages. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we have collected information from a child under the applicable age, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to delete such information from our systems.
11. International Data Transfers
Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for such transfers in compliance with applicable data protection laws, including:
- Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
- Adequacy decisions by relevant data protection authorities
- Other legally recognized transfer mechanisms
Where consent is required for certain processing activities, international transfers rely on your consent choices. In other cases, transfers occur as necessary to provide services, protect the site, and comply with legal obligations.
12. Do Not Track Signals
Some browsers support a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature. Our website does not currently respond to legacy DNT headers as a standalone mechanism.
For users in US states with opt-out rights, we rely on Google Privacy & Messaging controls for applicable "Do Not Sell or Share"/targeted advertising opt-out flows. You can also use the "Cookie Settings" link on our site and Google Ads Settings to manage ad personalization choices.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date at the top.
For significant changes, we may provide additional notice (such as a prominent notice on our homepage or via email if we have your email address). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information.
Your continued use of our website after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
14. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, want to exercise your privacy rights, or have privacy concerns, please contact us through our contact page.
We will respond to your inquiry as soon as reasonably possible, and within the timeframes required by applicable law.